Charlotte Hildebrand was our first comic book artist at the 360 Xochi Quetzal residency program. Charlotte lives and works in Los Angeles and is a genuinely funny person. She moved from New York to LA in the mid-80s to study at the American Film Institute. After school, however, instead of going to work in the industry, she produced her first child. While raising her children she worked as a writer and editor for various non-profit arts organizations, as a journalist and freelance book editor, as well as taught ESL. After the kids left home, however, she began an art practice, which continues to this day. Charlotte started her exploration of art by putting up wheat-paste posters in the dead of night around Los Angeles, which led to working as a muralist, painter, illustrator and cartoonist. She is presently working on a graphic memoir about growing up in segregated Louisville, KY. She also teaches graphic memoir and comic arts at the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, a community based non-profit in LA, as well as teaching a private online workshop called Kuarantine Komics. -dek
Give us some background about yourself as a comic artist.
When writing and editing work dried up in the 2008/9 recession, I began a blog. Mainly I wanted to get some stories and essays down that I had been working on for years. Out of nowhere (that may not be true, but it felt that way) I started to illustrate the stories, reaching back to an earlier time when I drew a lot. My blog posts picked up steam with those illustrations, which propelled me into melding text and images, but I didn’t have a name for it yet. Then I went to hear Allison Bechdel talk at the LA Public Library about her first book, Fun Home. It blew me away. I can honestly say it was a revelation: how one could tell stories through images, and in the doing so, elevating the story into another dimension. The mere fact of putting images to text like you do in a film, (remember I had studied filmmaking) changed everything. Not that I knew where to begin, but as I learned later, most comic writers/artists are self-taught. For me, comics became my métier.
Why was it important for you to attend a residency at this point in your career and what made you choose 360 Xochi Quetzal for your residency?
I’d been working on a compilation of coming of age stories, when the politics of our country changed and I found myself manically shifting my attention to political cartoons. Steve Brodner, one of our country’s foremost political cartoonists was offering an online class through SVA, which I readily signed up for. During one of his sessions, he assigned a graphic memoir exercise, with comic panels, which is where everything really began to take shape. Last year I continued my study of graphic memoir in NYC with Amy Kurzweil, a cheeky cartoonist published in the New Yorker and Huffington Post. Back home I was getting stuck and started thinking about what I needed. My vision included: being surrounded by people working on projects, while I also worked, but without interference, if you know what I mean. I remembered a friend mentioning this residency on Lake Chapala and when I looked into it, the one residence that was available for the time I could be there, seemed to fit my needs perfectly. And it did. I was able to complete 4 rather difficult chapters while I was in Chapala.
What changed for you in your work, goals and ideas as a result of this residency?
I think the first thing was meeting Cobra and taking a tour of her studio. To see a woman take charge of her space, her work, her output, and to be able to work with community, was very inspiring and made me want to work harder. Also inspiring was seeing how hard the other artists in the residency were working. I felt strengthened by their commitment to their work. In Chapala, my own output was steady. I worked through a difficult historical passage about Louisville (when the fight for social justice meant you were a Communist), and some other more personal stories, which bolstered my desire to continue with the memoir. Until that point it was an iffy proposition— would I continue or not?—but after the residency I knew I would finish the book.
What were the highlights of your residency? Tell us about a typical day in the life in Chapala, Mexico.
I love Mexico, I’ve been to Mexico City and Oaxaca a handful of times and I always thought I’d go back there, but Lake Chapala called to me. On the website people called the residency magical and the town definitely had a special quality. Being on the lake was amazing, the musicians at night along the boardwalk, walking everywhere, a busy blue collar town as opposed to a tourist destination (although it’s that too). A typical day would be get up and do some yoga, make tea, sit down and work for about 4-5 hours on whatever chapter I was working on, and then around 5, walk to the little park, towards the lagoon, where the birds gathered. I was endlessly drawn to the the various types of birds. There were herons of all kinds: green, great blue, little blues, and night herons. Pelicans; egrets; black birds and swifts would also come out to this area before sunset and nest in the trees and the tall grasses. It was fascinating to watch and hear, and a peaceful way to end the day. (although sometimes I went back to my casita and worked for another couple hours).
Tell us about your creative process. You are working on a graphic memoir. Please tell us more about this form and how do you develop your ideas?
Well, the first thing I can tell you about my creative process is it’s not a straight line. I can spend weeks ruminating about something, and not know how to approach it, and it slips away. Or sometimes I spend weeks working on an idea and it ends up not working and I have to give it up. The stuff that works and is most meaningful, usually comes to me like a feeling that I can only describe as “whole.” I can put it down on paper and draw it out from beginning to end. It has a logic to it, with a complete arc. I used to be most inspired by taking long walks where an idea would pop into my head while walking. That still happens, but now, working on the memoir is more about sitting down at my desk and taking a deep dive into the past. I just completed a chapter about having to end a forbidden love affair when I was 16, because my father forbade it. But what I had forgotten, after I thought I’d finished the chapter, was how at one point in that relationship, I was sitting at my mother’s vanity, looking into the mirror, and asking myself existential questions, such as, was this what people called love? Was it love, or did I just have a stomach ache? All those memories came rushing back once I sat down and started writing/illustrating that chapter of forbidden love.
Resources:
http://charlottehildebrand.blogspot.com
http://ratsnestcomics.blogspot.com/
Instagram @ lottobrand
Stevebrodner.com
https://believermag.com/type/comics/
NY Times Diary Project (started during the pandemic):
You are teaching a Kuarantine Komics class (great title!) and also a class on 4-panel comics. We would love to hear more about these unique offerings including your teaching philosophy and approach.
I really love teaching and seeing student work is one of the most satisfying feelings a teaching artist can have. Peoples’ stories are endlessly fascinating and I love seeing that students can execute their versions of your idea in ways one never would have imagined. But I don’t teach technique, in fact I encourage people to draw like they did as children, the more raw the better. I also discourage using an eraser. When the pandemic first began, I set up a workshop on Zoom called Kuarantine Komics to give people a place to express their fears and apprehensions. I encouraged people to draw what they were feeling without restrictions and not worry about limitations they had as artists. One young woman took off, a budding comic artist just waiting for the right moment to explode! My adult children were part of the class too and it was gratifying to see what great artists they both were.
My classes through the Center of the Arts Eagle Rock, a community based non-profit started out last year, and then moved to Zoom in March. These classes are more challenging, especially since our country has been in such upheaval. I warm up the class by giving different drawing prompts. For self portraits, say, I suggest drawing 3 sides of yourself— your private, public and aspiring selves. And then we jump into the main theme of the evening. I’ll give prompts on a specific topic to get them going. Comics allow a place to say what’s on your mind, and the more raw the drawings, the more meaningful they are for the artist and viewers. The only down side is it’s harder for this teacher on Zoom. I want to stand over my students’ shoulders and point out the minutia that can make the difference between a good comic and a great one. But on Zoom I’ve had to let the teaching flow in a new way. And the comics from those classes have really been great.
synthetic recycled bags as an art material. These bags are mainly used in construction work to move dirt, bricks and refuse materials. The idea is: take a cheap common material and inject it with new meaning that emphasizes the fluidity and movement of this ‘low material‘ to a place of higher consideration. This is the opposite of using say gesso, canvas and oil paint – more traditional (European) materials – in favor of those specifically linked to the concept. Mining the Pueblo places Mexico’s tradition of work and craft front and center as the concept itself. The leather panels on the bags were done by Victor Parra, a leather worker in Guadalajara, who comes from a family of saddle makers. They are the last generation of working Charros, which adds another layer of meaning and cultural reference. Victor’s contribution is to generate decorative patterns, which refer to vernacular imagery, in the leather stitching. I want the North American audience to look at these patterns as a reflection of its past history with Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. This history is not commonly taught or acknowledged in the USA, yet this country was built on the backs of slaves, on land taken from Native Americans, and land that was formerly Mexico in the present day western United States.
What I had anticipated and what resulted from my 360 Xochi Quetzal residency time could not have been further apart. I did not have a preconceived work plan, and did not have a high expectation for producing art works. I thought I would relax and read, and maybe have some Jalisco road trips to learn more about the local cowboy culture. What happened is that I was given an incredible opportunity – a great gift. The Lopez Cotilla residency house was so big and generous that I felt inspired to create new work. The people in Chapala work a lot, and that was an inspiration too. Seeing this dynamic fit into an idea that I had been thinking about for awhile. This concept, called The Infinite Labor of the Cosmic Race, is a body of work that is about immigrant Mexican workers in New York. The idea comes from the Mexican theorist Vasconcelos that claimed a kind of racial purity for Mexicans and posited them as a unique race. His theories are problematic, yet there are aspects of his thinking that attempts to lift the Mexican psyche.
My work Blue Elegy is informed by Zoroastrian and pre-Islamic, pre-Buddhist cultural and religious sites in Central Asia. These settings are often very plain with minimal markings, yet with enormous feeling and presence. Blue Elegy is a series of 12’ high poles made from broom handles on top of which are stainless steel mirror flags. Small bells are attached. Blue Elegy is about the gentrification of Harlem which is not only economic, but also racial and historic; it is the black and brown people of Harlem that are being pushed out. Blue Elegy is a kind of remembrance of the great people and their accomplishments of past and present day Harlem.
For the last 30 years I’ve worked as a carver with clay and stone. I always approach a medium searching for new ways of reinventing it challenging both the medium and myself. In recent years I began adding mixed media and masonry colorants to my clay sculpture after learning about Clay Printing (a technique developed by Mitch Lyons). I begin with a clayprint which I lift onto a synthetic texturized fabric, mount on wood and add layers of mixed media. It’s a long and laborious process but it gives me the results I desire and a new way of expressing myself.
Our life journeys are complex and have within them the positive and the negative, which deeply influence us. On one hand living in several cultures and countries (Argentina and Israel) has profoundly enriched me; hower, experiences of immigration, oppression, and war have scarred me. Over time, in searching for my truth and identity, I have integrated and embraced all of my parts. After years of feeling like an outsider and minority, I now consider myself a citizen of the world. Our human experiences do not divide us (only labels do that) but unite us regardless of color, religion, or nationality. These are recurring themes in my work.
You have had four personal residencies in Chapala. What keeps bringing you back?
I am not a structured artist in the sense that I allow the flow to carry me, especially when I am in Chapala. I take plenty of time for contemplation, meditation, and long walks along the lake. I always take my iPad so I can take notes, photos, and draw whenever an idea or an image inspires me. Then, several days a week I work at the studio to further explore and develop them. I enjoy taking the bus into neighboring pueblos. The ride itself is an uplifting experience for me – I love how people relate to each other in an open and friendly way. I’ve made great friends in the area. We go to concerts, art openings, and eat out. There is a never-ending list of fabulous places to eat.
What were you working on during this most recent residency?
About 30 years ago I decided to quit the corporate/business world. I wanted to be, live, and make art. I began teaching at various institutions. Over time, as my name and teaching methods became known, I was able to start my own school. I teach adults and seniors in my studio in Oakland, CA, I teach in upscale senior facilities and also at homeless seniors through Alameda County. I also teach privately in my studio or the artist’s. I taught stone carving at Pixar Animation Studios for 8 years and occasionally I’m invited to teach in other countries including workshops in stone carving, clay sculpture, mixed media, clay printing, and the business of art. I primarily show my artwork in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I have also shown in New York, Corsica and most recently Paris. That was an amazing experience, to say the least.
What advice do you have for other artists who are considering a personal residency in Mexico?
My main art material over the past nine years is discarded needlework, which is primarily vintage or antique hand-made embroidery and lace. Doilies, tablecloths, bed linen and clothing, which were painstakingly and lovingly made for functional and aesthetic domestic purposes in previous eras, are now culturally redundant in our ‘throw-away’ contemporary world. I use the term “reclaimed” as I am claiming the original domestic objects for a new purpose. I rescue these materials from charity/thrift shops and markets and I am fortunate that friends, family and even strangers also contribute needlework to my collection.
I rarely stitch down any of my textiles, although I have in the past used a vintage sewing machine to stitch the reclaimed needlework to layers of tulle and silk. Now I primarily use stainless steel or brass lace-pins to hold the textile fragments in place. This adds a sculptural element to the relief-work, as there are countless pins in each assemblage. In the case of my bird imagery in particular, the pins add a sense of light shimmering on the feathers. 
What have you learned about embroidery and other needlework traditions that you can share with our readers?
Initially, I was drawn to the residency by a stunning photo of Lake Chapala under the spell of a magnificent sunset, which was posted on Textile Fibre Forum’s online newsletter, with the heading “Free Artist Residency in Mexico”. What drew me to the residency in relation to my own practice was the fact that Mexico still has a living tradition of embroidery, albeit a fragile one. I also found it fascinating that the residency was named for the goddess of artisans, Xochi Quetzal, and in particular she is the protector of embroiderers and weavers! 
The opportunity to live and work in Mexico for a month and experience another language and culture every day; to spend time with other artists connected to the residency and make connections with some local artisans; to seek out and acquire (with much support from the residency patrons and other knowledgeable people in Chapala) some exquisite embroidery for my collection. I was also able to commission three Mexican flowers embroidered in silk by an artisan in the nearby pueblo of Ajijic. Along with the exquisite and rare Tehuantapec embroidery I purchased in Tlaquepaque, my collection and my next body of work, have been greatly enriched.
What can you tell us about the work in your upcoming show at Gould Galleries in Melbourne?
See more of Louise’s art on her website: 
I’ve been working as an illustrator in Berlin. Most of my works have been done on paper or screen. In 2012 I had chance to work on my first mural and I found it was challenging to paint large scale and develop new style of my art at the same time.
How did you structure your time during your artist residency?
You haven’t been to North America before. Tell us about how you found your way around Chapala and explored the region.
I have been studying patterns in nature and tribal arts. I visited the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City and Regional museums in Guadalajara where lots of art objects captured my attention. Through them I learned about the historical background, spiritual messages, and deeper meaning of primitive crafts. The imagery of my murals grew out of this study and the influence of the world around me in Chapala.
During the artist residency in Berlin, I lived and worked with ten artists for three months. We had weekly programs and frequent deadlines to prepare presentations. There were always other people around to discuss or share my ideas.
The first mural was located near the Chapala Malecon, which is a very busy street in a residential area. During the seven days I was working on the wall, I spoke to neighbors, parking workers, garbage collectors and the roaming Mariachi bands. Day by day I felt more involved in the local culture, and even learned some Spanish. During production, I met a Mexican man who introduced me to people at the Chapala city hall who paved the way to approving the second mural.
As a Japanese, I learned many differences between our cultures. People in Mexico have more freedom than in other cities or countries. If I could speak Spanish, I would have had more of a chance to communicate with the local kids who enjoyed watching me while I was painting on the wall. One of the important things I realized during the residency was a heightened awareness about the connection between humans and nature. Being at the 360 Xochi Quetzal residency was definitely valuable and will lead to the next step for my art practice.
Although Mexico is a developing country, I never had a bad experience in Chapala. People are very kind and educated. I had such a rich time and am so grateful to have experienced life in Mexico.
